Bail Granted for George Clooney

by admin Posted on March 19, 2012

George Clooney was arrested last Friday after crossing police lines during a protest calling for action against human rights abuses in Sudan.  Apparently taking a page out of the notebook on civil disobedience, Clooney planned to be arrested to bring media and public attention to the ongoing abuses in the region, which he has been campaigning against for some time.

Clooney was arrested along with his father (Nick Clooney, a journalist), US Representative Jim Moran, NAACP president Ben Jealous, Martin Luther King III and actor/comedian Dick Gregory.

Of his arrest, Clooney stated that it’s humiliating to be arrested “no matter what you do” but that he hoped it helped.

I have to say, it’s somewhat refreshing to hear about a celebrity arrest and bail for civil disobedience.  Clooney’s action was based on a compassionate and educated understanding of a tragic political situation that most Americans haven’t bothered to learn about.  While some people tend to frown upon celebrities getting involved in politics, I have to admire it (although more often when I believe in those causes myself ;-) ).  Clooney is using the resources he has to try to make a real difference in the very real plight experienced by many in Sudan.

What do you think?  Should celebrities stay out of politics or should they try to use their influence?

Posted in bail, celebrities, George Clooney, human rights | Leave a comment

Bail Bond Refunds: When Will You Get Your Money Back?

by admin Posted on March 5, 2012
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You have a question about bail bond refunds: you’re wondering when and how you get your bail money back. That depends on what type of bail you paid, and whether the defendant makes all required court appearances.

If you paid the court:  you probably paid “cash bail” for the full amount of the bail.

The good news is that although you had to pay the full amount of the bail you will get likely get all your bail money back if the accused has made all the required court appearances.  The bond will be discharged:

  • when the defendant is found “not guilty”; or
  • when sentencing is decided if the defendant pleads or is found guilty.  Note however that courts in some states may keep some of the bail amount in the case of a conviction to cover court costs, fees, penalties, etc.

You won’t get your money back if the accused fails to show up in court.  In that case the judge may order the bond forfeited and issue a bench warrant for the defendant’s arrest.  You also won’t get your money back if the defendant gets arrested again while out on bail.  So do your best make sure your loved one stays out of trouble and gets to court on time.

If you paid a bail bondsman:  you probably paid 8-12% of the total amount of bail that was set by the court.  This money is non-refundable, so don’t expect to get it back.

The good news here is that you didn’t have to come up with the full amount of bail set by the court.  The downside is that the 8-12% you paid to the bail bond company is non-refundable.  This money is known as the “premium” – and you won’t get it back, even if the defendant is found not guilty.  Charging the premium is how bail bondsmen make their money.

Note that when you sign a contract with a bail bond company, you become the “indemnitor” which means you are guaranteeing the accused will show up for all court appearances.  If the accused skips bail and goes “on the run” you will be financially responsible for the full amount of the bail plus any fees and costs incurred by the bondsman to locate the accused, including bounty hunter fees.

So, carefully consider the financial consequences of posting bail if you think there is any chance the defendant will fail to appear in court.

 

Posted in bail, bail bond refunds, bail bondsman, bail premium, bail skipping | Leave a comment

Celebrity Bail – Kim Dotcom is OUT!

by Tracey Posted on February 22, 2012

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© Kirill_M – Fotolia.com

I hadn’t heard of Kim Dotcom or his company, Megaupload, until a few weeks ago, but he’s been all over online news sources lately, and I have to say this is becoming a celebrity bail situation.  Here are 10 facts about Kim Dotcom and Megaupload:

  1. Kim Dotcom is German-born, and he changed his name from Kim Schmitz sometime in the last decade.
  2. Dotcom was previously convicted of insider trading, and was known to be quite the hacker when he lived in Berlin.
  3. He lives in New Zealand and is the founder and former chief executive of Megaupload, which is based in Hong Kong.
  4. Megaupload is a “cyberlocker” site, meaning that it’s an online storage site.  Cyberlockers have legitimate uses involving the storage and sharing of large files, including presentations and home movies.
  5. The FBI claims that Megaupload’s websites collected more than $175 million from activities that violated copyright laws and was was used to illegally copy half a billion dollars worth of entertainment content. Megaupload has been shut down by the FBI.
  6. In January Dotcom was named in a FBI indictment, alleging criminal copyright infringement and conspiracy to commit racketeering.
  7. Dotcom was arrested at his birthday celebration at his 25,000 square foot mansion.  He had actually barricaded himself in a safe room, and police officers had to cut him out.
  8. This was Dotcom’s second attempt to get out on bail.  Interestingly, Dotcom was denied the earlier bail because he had passports and bank accounts in three different names, and was considered a flight risk.
  9. Dotcom’s conditions of bail include wearing an electronic tag, living in a small house near the mansion he was renting, no use of his helicopter and no internet access at his home.  He also has travel limitations.
  10. Dotcom has been particularly interesting to the media because of his lavish lifestyle: he owns 18 luxury cars, with nameplates such as “HACKER,” “MAFIA,” and “STONED;” flies helicopters; and races cars in the Gumball 3000 Rally.
Posted in bail, bail denied, celebrities, Copyright Violations, insider trading, Internet Piracy, Kim Dotcom | Leave a comment

Insider Trading: $2.5 Million Bail for Anthony Chiasson – Who?

by Tracey Posted on February 15, 2012

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© kentoh – Fotolia.com

Anthony Chiasson, 38 year-old co-founder of Level Global Investors, recently turned himself in to the FBI.  Why?  Because they attempted to arrest him at his home after an insider trading investigation revealed he had made huge amounts of money on illegal insider trades.  In fact, Chiasson made $53 million in a single trade of Dell stock – which is the largest single trade ever charged in Manhattan.   Chiasson wasn’t home when about 6 FBI agents converged on his Upper East Side home, so he turned himself in later.

Investigators allege that a ring of traders at different firms shared information, illegally gaining a total of $61.8 million.  In total, the FBI arrested 7 people, including Chiasson.  The complaint “describes a circle of friends who essentially formed a criminal club” where “everyone scratched everyone else’s back.”  Recall that last year Raj Rajaratnam was sentenced to 11 years in jail for insider trading gains of a similar amount.

Although prosecutors requested bail of $10 million, the judge set bail at $2.5 million.  The bond was secured by half of that amount by property Chiasson owns.

Posted in bail, insider trading | 1 Comment

Dog the Bounty Hunter Supports the NOH8 Campaign!

by Tracey Posted on February 10, 2012

Bounty hunter and former bail bondsman, Duane “Dog the Bounty Hunter” Chapman, and his family recently participated in a photo shoot to support the NOH8 campaign promoting marriage equity, and gender and human equality.

I have to admit I made some assumptions about Dog – bounty hunting seems to be a very macho, hetero sort of thing, what with use of weapons and the tracking down of bail jumpers, alleged criminals, etc. – his world seems somewhat macho and this is not what I expected!  Clearly I engaged in a little stereotyping myself!  BUT I welcome Dog’s challenge to my assumptions and my attempt to stick him in a little box that in all honestly assumed he’s a homophobe.  I’m glad I got caught out!  My bad.

Given my recent post about how I wanted to see something positive from the bail bond industry, I’m pretty happy!  Still a little surprised, but happy to see Dog’s and his family’s support for equal rights!

Posted in bail bondsman, bail skipping, bounty hunter, celebrities, Dog the Bounty Hunter, gender equality | Leave a comment

Bail Conditions in the News – Jerry Sandusky

by Tracey Posted on February 7, 2012

Often a court granting bail will impose non-monetary conditions and restrictions on the freedom of the accused to ensure he or she will not commit any more crimes.  These include checking in with the police, turning over passports, electronic  monitoring, home detention, drug and alcohol testing and counseling, and surrendering firearms or weapons.  In addition courts may also grant an “order of protection,” which requires the accused to stay away from the alleged victim.  Violation of these orders can lead to forfeiture of the bail amount, additional fines and imprisonment.

Bail conditions were in the news Tuesday when Pennsylvania prosecutor’s asked that Jerry Sandusky be required to stay in his house as a condition of bail, except for medical treatment.  They also requested that he not be allowed to see his grandchildren – which doesn’t seem unreasonable given that there 52 child sex abuse charges against him.

Apparently a teacher and intern at the local elementary school had noticed him on his back deck watching children at the local elementary school playing.  Could be that he was just enjoying a nice day outside.  Or it could be really creepy.  Really creepy.

On Friday the court will hear the bail modification request.

By the way, Sandusky’s original bail amount was for $250,000 cash – with the court determining he could use $200,000 in real estate holdings towards that amount, along with a $50,000 certified check from his wife.  Guess he didn’t use a bail bondsman.  That way, he’ll save himself the 10% fee, and get the money back as long as he appears in court and complies with all the bail conditions.

Posted in bail, bail conditions | Leave a comment

Bail Bonds: The Underbelly…

by Tracey Posted on February 6, 2012

I have to admit I’m getting a little disheartened about the bail bonds industry.  Before I started writing about it I had been exposed to plenty of information about its dark underbelly, but I was aware of that, and knew enough to know that I shouldn’t assume that the entire industry is a little shady somehow.

Now, I still believe that there are some good bail bondsmen and recovery agents out there, but the more I look at the news, the more difficult it is for me to try to have positive thoughts about it.  It seems like there are three types of news articles about bail bonds:  1) those articles about someone who is accused of committing a crime, and who has had bail set or denied and 2) licensed bail bondsmen or recovery agents/bounty hunters involved in some kind of fraud, or unlawful imprisonment, or something else, and 3) unlicensed bail bondsmen or recovery agents/bounty hunters doing the same thing.  And then there are the articles that question very idea of the U.S. commercial bail bond system in the first place (yup – the only other country in the world, as far as I can tell, that has a commercial bail bond system is the Philippines, and four U.S. states have actually banned commercial bail bonding).

I think I may try to find stories now about bail bondsmen who have done some good charity work, or something nice.  Maybe that will be my next post.  A little bit of feel good…

Posted in bail bondsman, bail denied, bounty hunter | 2 Comments

Bail Bonds in the Movies

by Tracey Posted on February 1, 2012

Most movies involving bounty hunters and people involved with the bail bonds industry generally fall into the action flick genre, and the one I actually saw was fantastic –  I’m thinking about Old Country for Old Men… (in which Woody Harrelson played a bounty hunter).

But, in recent years, two bounty hunter movies have been romantic comedies.  In 2010 The Bounty Hunter, starring Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler, was released to less than stellar reviews.  In The Bounty Hunter, Butler plays the “recovery agent” role, tracking down his journalist ex-wife who is trying to solve a murder.

More recently, One for the Money has reversed the roles, with Katharine Heigl playing the bounty hunter, tracking down – surprise, surprise, – a romantic interest from high school, who has been accused of a crime he didn’t commit.  Heigl plays a laid off New Jersey lingerie sales woman, who find work as a bounty hunter through her bail bondsman cousin.  Based on a series of books by Janet Evanovich, the movie is also opening to less than stellar reviews.

Hmmmm…. dare I suggest that the Hollywood machine continues to make tons of money from being formulaic?  Plucky attractive women in romantic hook-ups with broad-shouldered rugged cops/ex-cops?

I realize that the purpose of those movies was to make money, but I also think the film industry can be critical in educating the public about “stuff.”  I actually think it’s time someone made a documentary about the bail bond business, bail bondsmen and bounty hunters.  Serious economic, social justice, race and gender issues intersect with the bail bond industry – I’d love to see some kind of in depth research.

Just saying.

Posted in bail, bail bondsman, bail skipping, bounty hunter, celebrities, film industry, Hollywood | Leave a comment

Bail Denied for Young Vito

by Tracey Posted on January 19, 2012

Slim Dunkin was an Atlanta rapper, who was killed at a recording studio a few weeks ago, on December 16th, apparently over a piece of stolen candy. The story is that Slim grabbed a piece of candy from another man in the studio. This led to an argument, then a fistfight, and then, (not so) naturally ensuing from that, a fatal gunshot wound to Slim’s chest.

Really? Over candy? I’m really not sure what to say to that, except that I’ve occasionally seen five years olds get into disputes over sweet stuff, and sadly sometimes things do end in tears; but lest we forget the obvious – these men weren’t five. What is it about ego, or the need for respect that elevated the value of a piece of candy above a living human being? Good grief. How do we get people to just walk away?

On Tuesday, the alleged shooter, Young Vito (aka Vinson Hardimon) was denied bond at a Fulton County (GA) courthouse. It’s no surprise to hear “bail denied” – he had previously been arrested in Fulton County four times – all on charges involving gun violations. His most recent arrest in April 2011 was for aggravated assault, cruelty to children and gun offenses.

And another young man goes to jail… I realize that there are multiple complex cultural, historical, socio-economic and other factors involved here, but how, oh how do we fix it?

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Bail Bonds and the “Reds”

by Tracey Posted on January 11, 2012

I just did a google search on bail bonds, and discovered that Google now shows news archive results.  The second result in the news archives was from the Deseret News, July 13, 1951, and it provided an interesting glimpse into the “Red Scare” – an episode in U.S. history that has always interested me.

The article is titled “N.Y. Judge Obeys Order to Free 15 Reds on Bail”.  Apparently Federal Judge Sylvester J. Ryan had revoked a $176,000 bail bond issued for 15 “high-ranking” communists, because the trustees of the Civil Rights Congress bail fund (which was I’m assuming was an organization supporting the civil rights of the “reds” and which put up the bail money) were “totally unreliable” as bail bondsmen.  The reason:  Judge Ryan held an inquiry into the affairs of the CRC, and held three of the trustees in contempt of court for refusing to provide the names of people who contributed to the fund.

Judge Learned Hand ordered the release of the accused communists after they had spent two nights in jail, citing a Court of Appeals panel directing the U.S. attorney to accept the Civil Rights Congress bail pending the result of Judge Ryan’s hearing.  Apparently Judge Ryan hoped to discover information on the whereabouts of 4 members of the Communist Party National Committee who had jumped $80,000 bail to avoid 3-5 year prison sentences for plotting to teach the forcible overthrow of the government.

Wow.  So not only did the accused have to come up with a hefty bail amount, the source of the funds was also under scrutiny.  At least until Judge Learned Hand came to the rescue!

Posted in bail, bail bondsman, bail revoked, Civil Rights Congress, Judge Learned Hand, Red Scare | Tagged , , | Leave a comment